Builds The Clustertruck Rides Again - Refurbishing a 1975 Chevota

[1Fine40]

With our rigs, we're mostly looking for torque, not peak HP..so a 2.25" back from the Y-pipe does the trick nicely...

At least that is what has worked well for mine.

Cheers!

 

[blossett]

I've got a 327 with rams hirns. I think I finally decided to go with these header buddy's . The ahb10-3 is for sbc with rams horns.

HeaderBuddy.com

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Sorry guys - I somehow missed these responses...

With our rigs, we're mostly looking for torque, not peak HP..so a 2.25" back from the Y-pipe does the trick nicely...At least that is what has worked well for mine.

Cheers!

Good shot of the exhaust routing - thanks! I think 2.25" is probably more than enough for a little 283. I'm considering going to 2.5" strictly to leave the option open of going to a 350 down the road. That said, I agree that running 2.5" exhaust on a 283 would likely shift the torque band in the wrong direction. Then again I've heard that a lot of "exhaust tuning" information is a myth...so who knows...

I've got a 327 with rams hirns. I think I finally decided to go with these header buddy's . The ahb10-3 is for sbc with rams horns.

HeaderBuddy.com

I looked at Header Buddy, but I don't need two - I already have a Y-pipe, a heat riser spacer, and the necessary gaskets. I just need something to connect the bottom of the "Y" to the rest of the exhaust.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

At long last - some real progress to report!

My friend Colin was finally able to stop by and burn in the new engine and transmission mounts. It took every bit of 8 hours of tweaking the engine, leveling the frame, and fiddling, but I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

Initially leveling the frame was easy. It turns out a 4' level fits perfectly between the spring mounts, and a 2-footer rests across the front crossmember. I just used tire pressure to level everything up:

Then we loaded in the engine for the first check - we used the tried and true "19.5" back from the corner of the front cross member from the @Downey manual.

Once we were satisfied with the initial positioning, out came the engine, and in went the front scab plates and mounts:

We didn't get overly scientific here - we essentially made them close to level with the top of the frame, but parallel to the floor.

We tacked them in to the point they would take the engine's weight, then loaded the engine back in and set it on its mounts.

We also burned in the rear scab plates at this point.

With the weight of the engine back on the front mounts, we were able to set a pretty proper estimate of the driveline angle. We got the rear pinion flange and transfercase to within about 1.5 degrees.

With the engine located properly in the bay, alone with the new transmission top cover, I am just about 1/2" away from the stock location. With the transmission tunnel back in, you can see how far it moved...

Next we tacked in the rear mounts and let the truck completely take the weight, and started checking clearances. Nothing is "set in stone" so far far, side-to-side in the bay, but the driver's side, as always, will be the problem side.

As Downey predicted, clearance between the power steering pump and the steering shaft is TIGHT, even with the engine only about 3/8" to the driver's side. Not sure I'll be able to move it the usual 1-1.5" toward the driver's side. I'll need to take a look at how my driveshafts line up.

Issues (major and minor)

- only about 1/2" of clearance between steering pump and steering shaft - belt tension adjustment somewhere limited due to lack of outward travel.

- oil dipstick tube contacts steering shaft

- can't get a wrench on #3 spark plug - I can get a socket on it - I'm about 1/8" shy of getting the wrench on it - a nuisance but not insurmountable.

- rear driveline angle is darn close to perfect, but I completely forgot to check the front - an assumption that I hope won't come back to bite me.

I don't think any of these things will be "deal breakers" unless the drive lines necessitate that I move the engine further to the driver's side.

All in all, a productive but slightly nerve wracking day!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Working on polishing up the intake manifold. Nothing was really getting this thing very clean. In lieu of bead blasting, I opted to paint.

Before:

During (after countless hours with various cleaners and a dremel wire brush):

VHT 500 degree primer:

VHT "Cast Aluminum" paint - followed by an hour bake on the grill at 250* to cure.

After:

The paint is a bit shinier than I'd anticipated, but I'll take it. Now I just need to add some carb studs. Another small step in the right direction.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Since it was beautiful grilling weather, I also put a couple coats of Seymour 1200 degree "cast blast" paint on my new Chinese-made Dorman Ram's Horns. And heat-cured them at 450* for an hour.

I've seen very mixed reviews as to whether even this high-temp stuff will burn off the manifolds, but I figured I would give it a shot. Best case scenario they stay looking good as new for a while. At worst, they wind up looking like the rusty lumps they'll replace in a couple hundred miles.

 

[gator25]

That old intake came out nice, great progress BTW. Looking good.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

That old intake came out nice, great progress BTW. Looking good.

Thanks @gator25 - feels good to be making some progress again!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Got the engine back on the mounts tonight with some help from my lovely assistant:

Then took a long look at what I've got in terms of conflicts, driveline angles, etc. I'm mostly happy with what I found.

Engine is tilted 4 degrees rearward:

Rear driveline flanges are at just about 2 degrees of parallel:

4 degrees at the transfercase

About 5.5-6 degrees at the rear pinion:

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

The front driveline is definitely worse - but that's probably ok since it will mostly be spinning at low speeds:

About 4 degrees at the transfercase front flange

About -1 at the front pinion (possibly because of the front caster shims to help with power steering)

So out front, it will probably be closer to 5-6 degrees from parallel...

Rear driveshaft will be about 24.5"

Front will be about 25.5"

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

The main issue remains "side-to-side" placement in the engine bay.

In order to get full adjustment and clearance for the power steering pump, the engine really needs to be perfectly centered in the bay:

This get me ideal clearance on the driver's side, but goes against the common wisdom of having the engine 1-1.5" to the driver's side for proper driveshaft angles.

Honestly - with the engine centered the driveline doesn't LOOK bad:

But I don't know how to measure how bad the driveline angle is "side-to-side."

Any thoughts on how to make this measurement?

 

[Cdaniel]

Big hurdles

 

[reddingcruiser]

I've found there are often just too many things in the way to measure within the frame rails, plus everything is not on the same plane. If your frame is still level side to side you can locate center on the front and rear frame members, then drop a plumb line to the floor front and rear, mark the floor, then snap a chalk line (or use straight edge and marker) between the two marks. Now you can drop a plumb line between any two points to check alignment.

 

[waiting for time]

Plumb line down from both pignons and draw a line in between. Without moving the car drop a plumb line from the transfercase front and rear shaft. It will give you an indication of how far they are off sideways.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Big hurdles

Definitely! Glad to finally be making progress. I'm guessing on your build, you were able to properly offset the engine to the driver's side? As I recall you're running a more modern serpentine setup and probably didn't have the pump in the way like I do. Any thoughts on the driveline from the pictures above? There isn't a TON of deflection, and in the other post I made about this, I'm getting stories about extreme angles, centered diffs w/ offset cases, etc. and no issues. Am I overthinking this again?

I've found there are often just too many things in the way to measure within the frame rails, plus everything is not on the same plane. If your frame is still level side to side you can locate center on the front and rear frame members, then drop a plumb line to the floor front and rear, mark the floor, then snap a chalk line (or use straight edge and marker) between the two marks. Now you can drop a plumb line between any two points to check alignment.

Plumb line down from both pignons and draw a line in between. Without moving the car drop a plumb line from the transfercase front and rear shaft. It will give you an indication of how far they are off sideways.

Thank guys - sounds messy, but it would work. Given what you can see in the pictures above - do you think it's necessary or is "straight enough" good enough in this case?

I'd LOVE to run the engine centered to give me boatloads of clearance on the driver's side, but I'm also hesitant to buck 40 years of V8 swap wisdom that says this will potentially be problematic. 1" to the driver's side doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm guessing it could make all the difference in the world.

Probably a "measure twice, weld once" situation for sure...

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

In other news, I confirmed yet another clearance issue will no longer be an issue:

With the shifter in first and third, I have loads of clearance at the heater box. No dog-leg required!

I was also able to cut the 6" dog leg in the transfercase shifter down to about 3".

This will center the transfercase shifter in the stock hole.

 

[reddingcruiser]

In other news, I confirmed yet another clearance issue will no longer be an issue:

With the shifter in first and third, I have loads of clearance at the heater box. No dog-leg required!

View attachment 1443905

I was also able to cut the 6" dog leg in the transfercase shifter down to about 3".

View attachment 1443906

This will center the transfercase shifter in the stock hole.

Put the Advance Adapters twin stick t-case shivers in and do away with the stock shifter

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Never quite understood the advantage to twin sticks other than you can get front-wheel-drive low, which can also be accomplished by just cutting the gate, right?

 

[Cdaniel]

Never quite understood the advantage to twin sticks other than you can get front-wheel-drive low, which can also be accomplished by just cutting the gate, right?

2wd Low is the advantage. Very useful when pointed downhill while equipped with a non selectable front locker and trying to maneuver

And yes it’s as simple as cutting the gate. 2 sticks not required, but more positive shifting

 

[Cdaniel]

Definitely! Glad to finally be making progress. I'm guessing on your build, you were able to properly offset the engine to the driver's side? As I recall you're running a more modern serpentine setup and probably didn't have the pump in the way like I do. Any thoughts on the driveline from the pictures above? There isn't a TON of deflection, and in the other post I made about this, I'm getting stories about extreme angles, centered diffs w/ offset cases, etc. and no issues. Am I overthinking this again? .

The fact that your thinking about it all means you’re probably good to go. Having the engine centered in an FJ40 isn’t too practical as it turns out. My situation isn’t exactly apples to apples with yours. I had similar issues though. Major differences in my rig: More lift (SOA), CV driveshaft in back (different angle requirements), Scout power steering box (different clearance issues).


I had my whole setup centered in the frame, ready to weld and fortunately decided to mount the PS pump to check clearance on the steering box. Fail! The pulley and box had major encroachment. Moving things to the passenger side enough to clear had me really concerned about the compound angles on the rear driveshaft at full droop. That led me to the serpentine setup, modified with the smallest pulley I could find. I got the pulley as close as I could to the box, a little too close. Later under some hard bucking on some rocks the pulley touched and peeled off one rib of the belt. I plan to shim the steering box a little to hopefully avoid that again.